Tuesday, January 06, 2009

baking again

This is not a baking blog, but I'm going to link to one. Peter Reinhart is a bubbly cauldron baker scientist, and can be fun to read. My sister gave me his Whole Grain Breads book for my birthday last year, and that's where the recipe for this bread comes from.

I kind of went on a baking hiatus after my sourdough starter kicked the bucket in November. But the other day I started feeling wistful and was jonsin' for some cinnamon raisin bread. Cinnamon Raisin bread with toasted walnuts, really. And the reason it became blog worthy because this is the most satisfying loaf of bread that I've made in a long time.

For awhile, weekly bread just became One-Of-Those-Things-That-Needed-To-Be-Done, like doing the laundry or making sure you had an appropriate stash of toilet paper on hand. I certainly still liked making bread, but I'll admit there were parts of it that had become somewhat chore-ish. When I first started baking a few years ago I couldn't wait for the bread too cool: I wanted to open it up and see if it had risen evenly inside, or discover how dense the crumb was, and of course I wanted to taste it. But over time, I started doubling the recipes and freezing a loaf, and even refrained from slicing into it for hours, days. Then it got to where I wouldn't eat much of it. It would disappear into A's PB and J sandwiches, and that was just fine by me. Maybe I'd make toast now and again if there wasn't any yogurt around for breakfast, but I was much less allured.

Then I took a break. And I'm not saying I'm ready to go back to Never-Bringing-Store-Bought-Bread-Into-The-House, but I am really satisfied with this loaf. Best toasted, with butter or cream cheese.Want the recipe?